Mysteries of the War
by Marauderette24
Summary: After an eventful 6th year at Hogwarts that involved his parents and godfather coming back to life, Harry is ready to relax with his newfound family. But a deadly war is brewing and everyone, including Harry's family, must play their part. PART 2 IN THE MYSTERIES SERIES!
1. Chapter 1- Harry

**Welcome back to the Mysteries series! I hope you guys are as excited as I am but first I just want to reiterate that I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this.**

 **July 31st, 1997- Potter Manor**

"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Harry and Neville! Happy birthday to you!"

Harry and Neville sat in front of a two-tier birthday cake made by Lily and Molly.

Ginny was sitting to Harry's right, leaning her head on his shoulder and kissing his cheek lightly. Sophie was seated on his left grinning at him with Melody in her lap and Dudley was standing over her protectively. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Lily, James, Molly, and Arthur were all standing behind the birthday boys, cheering as they blew out the candles. Meg and Sirius cuddling on the couch. Tonks and Remus holding hands and talking in front of the fire. And as Harry looked at all the people around him, he realized that it seemed like the perfect scene.

Except it wasn't.

The adults all had creases in their forehead from the constant worry of attack. Meg's summer dress revealed several long scars that ran down her legs. James was downing a pain potion between smiles. Even Harry's face wasn't void of sadness and worry.

Voldemort had been much more public with his attacks lately and without their leader, the Order had been struggling. Battles had been brutal and new recruits were few and far between.

They moved their headquarters to Potter Manor after confirming that Snape had indeed switched sides. Lily was still devasted that she had lost her childhood best friend for the second time but, understood that there was no way they could compromise the Order's safety by still allowing him entrance to headquarters.

"Maybe we should open presents," Lily suggested snapping Harry's attention back to reality.

"Presents?" Harry asked.

"Well of course Harry! It's your birthday after all! And Neville don't think we forgot about you!"

Neville blushed and ducked his head.

"You really didn't have to Mrs. Potter-"

"Oh, of course, we did sweetie! It's your party too. Now let's see what we've got here," Lily said, rummaging over to a table where several beautifully wrapped presents sat. "The first one goes to... Neville! Here you go love, from James and I."

The cycle continued with both Neville and Harry receiving many presents from their friends and family. By the end of it, Neville was surrounded by plants that may or may not be trying to kill him and Harry was surrounded by new quidditch and school supplies.

"Are you sure that thing's safe?" Harry asked Neville, pointing towards a plant that seemed particularly interested in biting Neville's face.

"Of course I'm sure! It's just a Nimimbulous Nimbulia. I love it thanks Professor Lupin!" Neville replied gently stroking his new plant.

Harry just scooted his chair a bit farther away.

"Do you like the ball that I got you, Harry?" Sophie asked sweetly.

She had gotten Harry a snitch with his name engraved on it.

"I love it thank you, Soph," Harry assured his adoptive sister.

She smiled so brightly that Harry swore his eyes hurt afterward.

After a bit more chit chat and eating lots of cake, the party started to end. Luna, Neville, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Meg all left leaving only the Weasleys and Hermione with the Potters.

"Do you guys want to stay over?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as they cleaned up dishes in the kitchen.

"I've got to ask my mom mate. You know how she is with the wedding tomorrow," Ron replied. "Remind me to elope when I get married. I don't want all this hassle."

Harry laughed loudly and finished putting away the dishes.

"Oh, Ron. You don't really want to elope. Think about how much you would regret not having your family there and celebrating with your friends!" Hermione added.

Ron shrugged.

"You guys can come," He said. "As long as you don't try to make me write those lovely dovey vows."

"Oh, but those are the cutest!" Hermione complained.

"No! I'm not going to be writing-"

"Just put the dishes away for Merlin's sake," Harry said.

"Sorry Harry. Anyway, have you made any progress on those horcruxes?"

"No," Harry said, slamming a cabinet shut harder than he normally did. "But I think I've made a decision."

Ron and Hermione turned towards him sharply.

"I'm not going to Hogwarts this year."

"Harry-" Hermione started.

"Hermione, we know that he's still out there! And I don't know about you but I can't, no I won't, rest until I know that he's dead. I can't look for horcruxes if I'm trying to do my homework and I certainly can't sneak out if I found one. Besides, it's what Dumbledore would've wanted."

"Then we'll come with you!" Ron said.

"I can't ask you-"

"You're not asking, Harry. We're telling you that we will be coming with," Hermione said, stepping forward and resting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Your parents will never let you," Harry objected.

"They won't know," Ron said. "We can sneak out at night and we'll be gone before they even wake up."

"And you already know about my parent's memory, Harry," Hermione said referring to the spell that she had cast on them early in the summer. They no longer remembered anything about having a daughter or their real names. As far as they knew, their names were Monica and Wendell and they had lived in Australia for their entire lives.

"You guys realize that if we do this, there's no going home and just returning to Hogwarts," Harry said seriously. "Once we leave we can't come home until he's dead."

"Harry, we said that we'll have you back," Hermione said.

"Alright. Then we leave the night after the wedding."

If the trio had stayed in the kitchen for a little bit longer, they would have noticed a little girl that was just trying to put her dishes away when she heard her brother talking about running away. Sophie quickly disposed of her dishes and ran to her room.

* * *

"Harry!" Sophie screamed as she ran into his room later that day.

"Soph! Come here you want to come read this book with me? It's about defensive magic-"

"You're leaving soon aren't you," Sophie asked, lowering her voice as she got closer.

Harry's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"I heard you in the kitchen with Ron and Hermione. Why are you leaving Harry?" Sophie asked looking close to tears.

"Sophie it's complicated-"

"Harry! I want to know why my big brother is leaving me!"

"Soph, I swear it'll be ok I promise I'll come back-"

"You don't know that!" Sophie screamed.

Harry froze and looked down at the little girl he called a sister.

"Harry I know how dangerous he is. I lived with him, remember? Do you know how many times I had to walk through those dungeons, listening to the cries of people who would never get to see their friends and family again? I can't lose you too, Harry," Sophie said, her voice now lowered but tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Soph, I, ugh," Harry started as he guided her towards his bed. "I've got to do this so the war can end. I know it seems crazy and I can't tell you anything right now but, just know that I'll be back ok? And don't forget about Dudley. You guys can hang out and you have to watch out for him alright?"

"Ok Harry," Sophie sniffled. "Promise that you'll come home?"

"Pinky promise," Harry said.

"Ok, but I'm going to miss you, Harry. More than when you go to Hogwarts."

"I know Sophie. I know."

* * *

 **August 1st- The Burrow**

"Alrighty. Now Sophie remember what I said?" Lily asked as she fixed a flower into Sophie's hair.

"Stay by you, Dad, Sirius or Remus at all times," Sophie recited for the millionth time that day.

"Same with you Dudley!" Lily called out to her nephew who was messing with his tie.

"Yes Aunt Lily," He called back after he finally figured out how to twist his tie properly.

"Good. Now James?" She yelled up the stairs.

"Yes, flower?" He called as he hurried down the stairs with Harry on his heels.

"Oh good both of you are here," She said as she switched her attention over to Dudley who was now having trouble getting his hair to stay flat. "Harry, I want you to be by Order members at all times ok? And James you better not take a sip of firewhiskey while we're there."

"Mum, the Burrow has the strongest wards available, other than this house I think-"

"I don't care Harry. I want you by Order members, ok? For me?" Lily pleaded.

"Fine," Harry grumbled.

"And what is everyone in this family going to do the entire time we're there?" Lily asked.

"Keep our heads down, stay alert, report anything suspicious and look out for each other," The family recited in perfect harmony aside from a couple grumbles from Harry.

"Good now let's go before we're late."

* * *

When Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, he was immediately greeted by Ginny's warm embrace.

"Hi Ginny," Harry mumbled.

"Hey Harry," She replied with a smile.

"Alright lovebirds-"

"Move out of the way," Fred and George said together.

Harry blushed lightly as Ginny kissed his cheek right in front of her two brothers before pulling him out of the living room.

"Come on. Mum's having a fit in the kitchen so we're going to go outside and see if Dad needs any help."

Harry walked through the familiar house, occasionally stopping to talk to the guests who were accumulated in various rooms. Once they made it out to the garden, they found that Arther actually didn't need any help. So, the couple sat down on a wooden swing and caught up.

"I feel like we haven't had any time to ourselves in forever!" Ginny said, the swing rocking back and forth slowly.

"I know! Summer has been really busy though. I mean Hermione's been making me read a book a week!" Harry said with a small laugh. His eyes seemed extremely concentrated on a pebble resting in the dirt.

"Is everything ok Harry? You seem... off."

"I'm fine Gin," Harry said, shooting his girlfriend a tight smile.

"Harry? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything Ginny!"

"Are you going to go to Hogwarts this year?" Ginny whispered.

Harry hesitated.

"I can't Ginny. He's out there! Just waiting and I can't put Hogwarts in danger by being there."

Ginny closed her eyes and nodded softly.

"Do your parents know?" She asked.

"No one but Ron, Hermione, and Sophie," Harry admitted quietly.

"Are you going to tell them?"

"No. I'll leave in the middle of the night and by the time they wake up, I'll be gone."

"Sophie's going to miss you."

"It's for the best."

"I'll miss you."

Harry's bright green eyes snapped up to meet Ginny's.

"I'll miss you too Ginny. You're absolutely extraordinary Ginny Weasley and any boy would be lucky as Merlin to call you their boyfriend so I understand if you don't want to wait-"

"Harry Potter don't you dare think that I would break up with you!" Ginny said.

Harry noticed how her nostrils flared ever so slightly and her brown eyes narrowed until they were laser-focused on his eyes.

"Ginny, can I tell you something?" Harry asked with a small smile.

"As long as it's not about breaking up, I suppose you may."

"I love you," Harry whispered, leaning in to kiss her.

"I love you too, you idiot."

 **A/N- Hi guys! I'm back! I'm so so so excited to finally be back in Harry's world and I can't wait to show you guys everything that I've planned. In the meantime, please consider checking out my wattpad account! My username on there is ThatMatchie and I write original romance novels! Now some updates about this fic.**

 **It will update on Saturdays, hopefully, every Saturday but it might end up being every other Saturday. Please be patient.**

 **I'm still editing Mysteries of the Veil so please be patient about that too.**

 **And if you haven't already, please add this story to your favorites so you get notified when it updates!**

 **Love you all and I'll see you later!**

 **-Marauderette24**


	2. Chapter 2- Harry

**August 1st- The Burrow**

"Do you, William Arthur Weasley, take Fleur Isabella Delacour to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Bill said, smiling from his place on the stage.

His hands were intertwined with his soon-to-be-wife, Fleur who was standing across from him wearing a gorgeous white dress with black lace on the bottom. The lace trailed up the skirt of the dress forming the silhouette of two swans.

"Do you, Fleur Isabella Delacour, take William Arthur Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Fleur replied in her heavy, French accent.

"Then it is my honor and pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride!"

The couple smiled at each other while everyone cheered. Bill grabbed Fleur's waist and pulled her in for their first kiss as husband and wife. Fred and George wolf-whistled as Molly dabbed her eyes with a small cloth. The rest of the Weasley family was clapping and watching as the couple turned and waved at the audience.

"And now, WE PARTY!" Bill announced, resulting in another loud cheer from the crowd.

The neat rows of chairs rearranged themselves around tables that flew in from the house courtesy of Arthur and Charlie. Although, a portion remained open for the dance floor. Music played from a radio on the altar that was being blasted by a simple amplifying charm. Within minutes, several redheads that Harry didn't recognize were drunk and dancing in ways that he missed Sophie hadn't seen. Other more sensible people were mingling around, catching up with old friends, and congratulating the newlyweds.

Harry immediately branched off from his family and went to find Ginny. He found her moments later talking to none other than former Triwizard competitor and quidditch player, Viktor Krum.

"Viktor!" Harry greeted upon seeing his old friend. "I didn't know that you would be coming out here today."

"Potter," He replied stiffly. "Fleur invited me. I figured it was the least I could do after... the tournament."

Harry nodded, understanding the feeling of both survivors guilt and regret for almost hurting Fleur. Ginny raised an eyebrow at Harry but leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Anyway, I'm going to have to take off Viktor. Harry promised me that he would help me with... something inside," Ginny said, pinching Harry's arm and giving him a strained smile. "Right Harry?"

"Oh! Yes! I almost forgot about... the thing! Yes, we should do that. It was nice seeing you Viktor."

Harry gently lead Ginny away and into the house where she immediately broke out giggling.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Why are you laughing?"

"He was totally flirting with me!" Ginny exclaimed after her fit of giggles. "When you came over, I thought he was going to stab something with that crazy ass wand of his."

"He was what?" Harry asked, his voice lower than normal.

"Don't worry Harry. He's got nothing on you," Ginny assured him. "He kept talking about how great he is. I prefer someone who's nice and humble."

"Good," Harry murmured moving closer. "I love you Gin."

"Love you too Harry," Ginny said, sealing the sentiment with a kiss. "Come on, they'll be looking for us outside."

The couple walked outside hand-in-hand looking for Ron, Hermione, Sophie, and Dudley. But before they could find them, Aunt Muriel came and stopped them.

"Ginevra! What in Merlin's name are you wearing? It makes your face look so much fatter!" She exclaimed. "Come sit with me for a minute dear."

Harry began to laugh before Ginny dug her fingernails into his arm and pulled him down with her.

"Of course Aunt Muriel. I assume you've met Harry?"

"I've heard of him but never had the pleasure of meeting Dumbledore's errand boy," Muriel said, sticking her hand out for Harry to shake.

"Hello," Harry greeted. "I've heard a lot about you as well Aunt Muriel."

"All good things I presume," Muriel said, missing the humorous looks shared by Harry and Ginny. "Anyway, I was just telling Edward here about the lovely article Rita Skeeter wrote the other day. It exposes Dumbledore for who he is: a liar and a ch-"

"That's quite enough Muriel!" Edward says from his seat. " I am sick of you belittling the headmaster like this! He was a private man but in no way was he senile!"

"Admit it, Edward! We both know that he was involved in the dark arts when he was younger. Old Bathilda told me all about it over tea a few years back."

"How dare you! Albus was involved in no such thing."

Edward got up from his chair and moved closer to Muriel just as she took another gulp of wine.

"If you truly believe that then you need to do more research, Edward. Bathilda Bagshot herself told me about Dumbledore's childhood. And you and I both know that she's known Albus for the longest time."

Harry recognized the name but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.

"Excuse me Aunt Muriel but are you talking about the author of A History of Magic?" Ginny said, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"Correct Ginevra," Aunt Muriel said, her eyes never leaving Edward's. "Bathilda lived right next to the Dumbledores for as long as anyone can remember."

"Where did she live?" Harry scooted his chair closer into the circle.

"Where _does_ she live my boy," Edward spoke up. "Bathilda is still alive. And I'm surprised you don't already know where she lives Mr. Potter. She and Dumbledore both grew up and lived in Godric's Hollow. Just a block or two from your parents I believe."

"Dumbledore lived in Godric's Hollow?" Harry repeated shocked.

"That's what he said isn't it Potter? And I thought I was the one who was losing her hearing," Muriel muttered.

"Thank you for the information," Harry said, still shocked by the new knowledge.

"Anytime Mr. Potter," Edward said, heaving as he shakily stood up and took a step to be closer to Harry. He gestured with his frail hand for Harry to lean closer. "Let nothing tarnish your memories of Albus. He was a great man," Edward whispered.

"I'll remember that sir," Harry promised him. "If you'll excuse us."

Harry grabbed Ginny's arm just as a slow, steady beat began to play. Ginny's eyes sparkled as she and Harry made their way onto the dance floor. Her hands automatically went to rest on his shoulders and Harry's hands found their way to her slender waist.

"I hope you've gotten better at this since the Yule Ball," Ginny said softly to him.

"I hope I have too," Harry said, gently swaying to the tune of the music.

The skirt of Ginny's dress brushed lightly against his legs and Harry could smell the distinct French perfume that Fleur had purchased for Molly.

"Did you steal your mum's perfume?" He whispered to her.

"That obvious?"

"No, I just know that it's not your usual scent."

"How do I usually smell Harry?"

"I don't know! More flowery?"

Ginny laughed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. The couple gently swayed to the music, completely lost in the sea of other pairs who were much older than them. Luna was off to the side, dancing with her dad who appeared to be swatting away nargles. Even Molly had taken a break from playing hostess and was twirling around the floor with Arthur at her side. The dance floor was completely packed with dancing duos who were having the time of their lives.

And it was at that moment, that a bright light erupting from the tent caused all the guests to gasp and take a step back. The light formed into a shape, a glowing patronus of a lynx.

"Kingsley," Harry muttered, barely registering that he was stepping away from Ginny.

The Lynx opened it's mouth and started talking to the shock of many onlookers.

"The Scrimgeour is dead. The ministry has been infiltrated. Run."

Everyone stared at the patronus disappeared into thin air leaving the dance floor bare. And then, someone let out an ear piercing scream that broke the silence like a crack of lightning.

People started running around, gathering loved ones and attempting to take cover in the Burrow. Some started disapparating, roving that the protective wards around the Burrow had been broken. Harry pulled out his wand and immediately threw himself into the crowd. Figures cloaked in black started appearing among the guests and Harry spotted Hermione, wand raised and a stream of incantations leaving her mouth. Upon seeing him, Hermione immediately ran over and grabbed his arm.

"Harry! Have you seen Ron? We need to leave now!" Hermione screamed over the noise of the attack.

Harry shook his head and the pair immediately took off through the crowd.

"Ron! Ron!" Hermione cried, her nails digging into Harry's skin in an effort to ensure that they weren't split up. The nails broke the skin as Hermione yanked Harry down to avoid getting hit by a streak of light that flew above them.

"Ron!" Harry heard Hermione scream in relief. And then as he was trying to scramble to his feet, he felt himself spinning and getting pulled farther and farther away from the wedding and possibly, Voldemort himself. And just when Harry thought he might have regained his balance, he was being pushed against a wall by an angry pedestrian.

"Outta' the way!" The man yelled as he passed by.

"Sorry, sir!" Harry tried to yell back but the man had already disappeared into the crowd. Harry turned to his friends. They both seemed unharmed other than

Hermione's face being extraordinarily pale and Ron looking confused as ever.

"Where are we?" Ron asked, rubbing his head.

"Tottenham Court Road," Hermione answered. "Come on, we've got to find somewhere to change."

"Change?" Harry asked, following obediently, pulling down his shirt in an attempt to cover the obvious bleeding cuts that Hermione had given him.

"Well, we can't walk around in dresses and suits!" Hermione exclaimed. "Here, get in."

The trio walked into a small cafe that looked like it had seen better days. Inside, a young lady stood with a messy side ponytail and a notepad in her hand.

"Welcome to Cafe Tottenham. Sit where ever," She said, loudly smacking a chunk of gum.

Hermione scrunched her nose but made her way over to a booth where she opened a small jeweled bag that had been resting on her hip.

"Here Harry, I packed you a pair jeans and choose whichever shirt you want I don't care. Ron, I grabbed a pair of jeans for you and then I could only find this jumper sorry."

Harry watched in amazement as clothes emerged from the bag that looks like it might only hold some change and a tube of lipstick.

"How did you fit all of that in there Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Undetectable extension charm," She muttered, pulling a tee shirt over her dress. She kept turning to looks at the door and was constantly tapping her foot on the greasy tile. "Ron just put the jumper over your shirt, would you? And actually Harry, I don't think we should split up to change so just throw this on would you?"

Harry took the familiar invisibility cloak out of Hermione's hands and threw it over himself.

"Hermione calm down. You look suspicious as hell right now," Harry said quietly.

"Shut up Harry. I need to stress for a moment," Hermione said.

The trio sat in silence for a moment with the only noise being the sound of the coffee machine grinding behind the counter. Hermione rested her head on Ron's shoulder and sighed. Harry awkwardly shifted, feeling as though he was ruining a private moment.

"Ok, we need to think about our next move," Harry said after a while. "We know that Voldemort's taken over the ministry so basically anywhere in the wizarding world is unsafe. And at this point, we might as well just start looking for horcruxes."

It was at that moment that two, large workmen entered the cafe.


	3. Chapter 3- Sophie and Ginny

**The Burrow- August 1st**

Sophie was immediately tackled to the floor by Lily when the death eaters started appearing.

"We need to get out of here right now!" Lily screamed over the chaos. "Soph, honey, I'm going to put you under a table ok? As soon as I find Dudley, we're going to get out of here but for now, I need you to stay super quiet alright? I'll be right back."

Sophie nodded her head and dove under the table where people had been celebrating just moments ago; Now the table was deserted and instead of being filled with laughter, the sound of screams echoed around Sophie. Luckily, the long table clothes shielded her from seeing the battle that raged around her.

"Baby mine don't you cry, baby mine dry your eyes, rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby mine," Sophie whispered to herself but immediately shut up upon hearing footsteps approaching the table.

The steps were slow and quiet but Sophie could still hear the grass rustled under their feet. And then the table flipped right over Sophie's head revealing a pair of blood red eyes staring right at her.

"Still muttering that stupid lullaby are we, Princess?" Voldemort said, leaning dangerously close to Sophie.

"Go away," Sophie whispered.

"Why would I do that Sophronia? You can't do anything to stop me."

Sophie just shook her head and covered her ears.

"Stop that you filthy squib!" Voldemort said, casting a spell on Sophie that caused her hands to snap back to her sides. "You could've been so much more than this Princess. You could be by my side, maximizing your potential but instead, you're nothing more than a muggle hiding under a table."

Tears streamed down Sophie's face as she shook her head.

"I would never fight for you," She whispered.

"I beg to differ, or do you not remember poor little Arabella Fig?"

"I didn't mean to," Sophie cried.

"Oh, you did darling. And I had never been prouder. But look at you now, a pathetic orphan-"

"Get away from my daughter!" Lily screamed.

She ran in front of Sophie with her wand in hand and Dudley attempting to hide his large body behind her. However, as soon as he saw his sister, he crouched down and brought her into his arms.

"It's alright Soph," Dudley said, as spells flew over their head.

Lily expertly dodged all of Voldemort's spells until one cutting curse slashed her arm. Blood gushed out of the wound and Lily hissed everytime she had to move her wand.

"Mrs. Potter. We meet again. I must say, you're much more of a fighter than your husband," Voldemort teased.

"No one hurts my children," Lily screamed.

"Oh I don't want those two," Voldemort said casually, casting a protective barrier around himself. "I came for Harry Potter. Although, it would appear that he's already abandoned you."

Lily's face paled and Sophie started sobbing harder.

"So, because I am a merciful lord, I am going to give you the opportunity to run. Abandon your friends but save your children. What do you think Mrs. Potter?"

Lily licked her lips and took a slight step back. Her wand shook as Lily kept it pointed at Voldemort but grabbed Dudley's hand.

"You're a monster," She spat before apparating away, leaving the battle behind.

The three Potters landed in the manor within seconds. Lily immediately started trying to comfort Sophie who was still crying buckets. Dudley just sat in the corner barely comprehending what had just happened.

"Are you ok Sophie? I'm so sorry I should never have left you. I was just so caught up in finding the boys that I forgot-"

"It's ok mom," Sophie said quietly. "You had so many other things to worry about-"

"Still, you're my little girl! You, Harry and Dudley, go before anything else."

Sophie smiled slightly before sniffling and wiping a few remaining tears off of her cheeks.

"Aunt Lily?" Dudley piped up for the first time in a while.

"Oh! Yes, Dudley?" Lily said, spinning to face her nephew.

"Where's Harry?" He whispered.

Lily licked her lips and focused her eyes on the ground.

"I'm not sure yet Dud."

"But that, that, evil dude was saying that he left. So where did he go?" Dudley pressed.

"I'm not sure."

"So he just left? And no one knows where he went?" Dudley yelled. "What if he's in trouble? We have to find him!"

Before Lily could even reply, Sophie took off leaving the two older family members confused and shaken up from the battle. The two sat in silence for a moment, staring at the place where Sophie had just been before Dudley awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Ummm, Aunt Lily? You're kind of bleeding. A lot. Onto the carpet."

* * *

Meanwhile, Sophie had rushed up to Harry's room and was currently sitting on his bed. Fresh tears poured out of her eyes as she realized that her older brother had stayed true to his promise and wouldn't be coming back to Hogwarts or his family anytime soon. Melody jumped up onto the bed and started rubbing her head against Sophie's arm.

"Hey Mel," Sophie whispered, petting the small cat on the head. "Half the family is missing right now so that's no fun. I don't think Harry's coming back anytime soon. But I also don't think I can tell anyone that. He didn't want mom and dad to know you see. I only know because he accidentally told me. Well, he wasn't really telling me. I just heard."

Melody seemed to look at Sophie quizzically for a moment before she jumped off the bed and started meowing loudly.

"What's wrong Melody?" Sophie asked, getting up and crouching next to her cat.

Melody meowed again and then started sprinting down the hall. Sophie followed her, checking to make sure that no one saw her leaving Harry's room.

"Where are you going?" Sophie asked, as her cat ran through several small hallways.

Finally, Melody arrived at the door of Sophie's room. She pushed it before looking at Sophie expectantly. Sophie rolled her eyes slightly but opened the door. Melody rubbed her head on Sophie's leg and then went to sleep on Sophie's bed.

"That's it?" Sophie asked. "You wanted me to come in here so you could go to sleep?"

That was when she noticed the stack of papers on her desk. She hurried over and almost started bawling for the 3rd time that day when she saw that Harry's handwriting was on the envelope. She quickly opened the letter and read over its contents.

 _Dearest Sophie,_

 _Hi Sis. If you've received this, it means that I'm gone. Don't ask me how this all works, I just had Hermione do it for met the beginning of the summer. I'm writing this while mom is getting ready for my birthday party and I'm assuming that you got this around the start of September so who knows, maybe this letter will be completely out of date and useless._

 _I just want you to know that I'm safe and that everything's going to be ok. I'm not going to be able to come home soon but I hope to see you at some point. I've left you a few other letters and I was hoping that you would be able to get them to their owners. It's all people that mom and dad know so the can help you with that if you need them to._

 _One last thing Soph. Don't try to contact me. It'll just put both of us in more danger and with Hermione's plan, the correspondence probably won't even go through. And I can't tell anyone what I'm doing. Just know that it's what Dumbledore wanted and it's a really, really, long story._

 _I hope to see you again Miss Sophronia Snow._

 _Love,_  
 _Your brother, Harry Potter._

Sophie smiled sadly at the letter. It simply confirmed her fear that her brother had indeed gone after the man who had held her captive for a year. She looked at the stack of letters on her desk and sighed.

Luckily, all the letters were addressed to people that she knew personally and that visited the manor quite frequently. It would be easy to deliver them. There was just one major problem in Sophie's mind.

How in the world was she supposed to explain these to her parents?

* * *

While Sophie struggled to approach Lily with the letters, Ginny found herself in a much larger predicament.

She was tied to a chair with her wrists and ankles bound. She could hear the harsh breathing of those around her but none of them dared make a sound. They had protested and fought initially but once Voldemort himself entered the room, the Order faltered. And then after the first person was taken into the basement for interrogation, the protests stopped completely and the crying started.

Sirius was lying unconscious in the corner with his head in James lap. James had his head bowed and rarely looked at any of the other hostages. Most of the main Order members were here; none of them were willing to leave the battle. And although she was relieved that her boyfriend hadn't been captured, she knew that it meant that he wasn't coming back for a long time. He would've never left her to fight in a battle while he sat at home so she could only assume that he left to start the mission that Dumbledore had let him. No one in the Order knew exactly where he went, or what he was doing for that matter, but most of them were under the impression that he would be returning to Hogwarts in the fall. Ginny wanted to believe that her boyfriend would come back to school with her but deep down she knew that Harry wouldn't be returning.

Ginny was pulled out of her thoughts when two death eaters emerged from the staircase. They started walking towards her and Ginny instantly knew that it was her turn. They grabbed her arms and hauled her up without acknowledging anyone else in the room. Ginny sent a small, reassuring smile at her mom before being dragged into her own basement.

The lights were dim in the large room. Voldemort sat in a chair behind a table. The death eaters forced Ginny to sit in a chair across from him.

"Miss Weasley. It's a pleasure," Voldemort said. He twirled his wand and looked around at the basement. "Your home is quite unique."

Ginny glued her eyes to the ground.

"Well that wasn't very nice was it?" Voldemort reprimanded. Upon seeing that the youngest Weasley was clearly not giving anything up, Voldemort tried another tactic. "I don't want to hurt anyone, Miss Weasley. But I have no problem with using... other methods of getting information if you choose not to cooperate."

Ginny shook her head with a disbelieving smirk.

"I think you're a sick monster who wants to hurt people. You've hurt Harry multiple times with no remorse."

"Mr. Potter interferes with my plans. You, however, can help me. I just need you to tell me where he is."

"I don't know," Ginny said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," She whispered.

"Avery? Get in here. Just crucio for now,"

Within a few minutes under the torture curse as well as other dark spells, Ginny had tears in her eyes and whimpers escaped her lips.

"Do you know where he is?" Voldemort hissed.

"No," Ginny cried.

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know!" She screamed.

Voldemort stared at her for a second more before signaling for his death eaters to return her to the main floor.

 **A/N- Hi guys! I hope you're enjoying your weekend as much as I am! Did you guys enjoy this chapter? As always, I would also like to remind you guys that I have a Wattpad account where I post an original romance story called Cream Puffs and Courtship. My username over there is ThatMatchie and I hope you'll check it out!**

 **Now onto something a bit more serious. Last week I received a Guest Review claiming to be from an antiplagiarism forum. They said that they were about to mass report me until I got blocked. I knew from the moment that I saw it that it was fake however, it really made me mad that someone would comment that on my work. I can assure you guys that everything that I write is in my own words and obviously I don't own Harry Potter but I have never claimed to own it. So I hope that this was an isolated incident and that it won't happen again.**

 **Thank you to everyone who wrote positive things, it really makes my day especially when I get negative things like that guest review.**

 **See you soon,**

 **-Marauderette24**


	4. Chapter 4- Harry

**Muggle London- August 1st**

"Do you think they're ok?" Ron asked.

"They're probably fine Ronald. The entire Order was there and I doubt Voldemort would show up to something as trivial as a wedding," Hermione said in a low voice so she didn't attract the attention of the waitress.

"Did you guys see Sophie before we left? I hope she stayed with mom," Harry muttered, eyeing the two workmen out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm sure both of your families are fine. Now can we please talk about the fact that we've got nowhere to go and we're now officially on the run?" Hermione said.

"What about one of the Potter properties?" Harry suggested.

"Where do you think your parents are going to look when they realize that you're gone?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes at her friend.

"Oh," Harry said lamely, stirring his cup of coffee.

"What about Headquarters?" Ron suggested.

"Why would we go back to Harry's house?"

"Not Potter Manor! Grimmuald!"

Harry looked up from his tea and smiled at Ron.

"No one would think to look for us there because of the enchantments we put up when we left," Harry said.

"But there's still a huge problem. Snape can get in."

"The three of us can take on one lone death eater," Harry insisted. "And I would like nothing more than to get revenge on Snape myself!"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something when Harry noticed a sharp movement in the corner of his eye. He mirrored the movement and pushed Hermione's head down just in time to avoid getting hit by a curse.

Ron jumped up from his seat and pointed his wand at the workmen who could now be identified as Death Eaters. Hermione shook off her shock at being pushed around by Harry but then joined her friends to fight.

The waitress, shocked by the colored lights flying around her began running for the door. However, her trip was cut short when a red light hit her in the back and she fell to the ground, the coffee from her pitcher spilling onto the ground.

 _'At least she can't run out of here screaming,'_ Harry thought to himself.

Chains flew past Harry's face and he looked back only to see them wrapped around Ron's torso. Ron promptly fell over, wiggling around in an attempt to free his arms from the bind.

Luckily, Hermione was watching out for him and she cast a powerful hex that sent the death eater flying into a wall. He slid down, unconscious. Harry covered her backside and soon both death eaters were on the floor. Hermione's hand shook as she cut the chains off of Ron and he winced in pain when she missed and cut open his side.

"I'm so sorry Ron!" She said, helping him to his feet once the chains were off.

"It's fine Hermione," He assured her, walking over to where Harry was examining the fallen death eaters. "Are they dead?"

"No," Harry said, standing up and facing his friend. "But we've got to do something with them."

"Well, we can't kill them!" Hermione shrieked. "Avada Kedavra is such dark magic, Harry!"

"Then we wipe their memory and dump them outside," Harry announced. "It'll cover our tracks better anyway. Same with the waitress."

Hermione nodded her head and started performing the spell on the first death eater.

"This is Dolohov," She muttered as she worked. "I recognize him from the wanted posters."

"That one's name is Avery," Ron said. "He was in the department of mysteries remember?"

Harry nodded but didn't reply. Instead, he surveyed the damage done to the coffee shop.

"Ron," Harry started looking at the broken glass and spilled coffee. "Come help me clean up."

"What?" Ron said. "Why are we cleaning? We're leaving as soon as Hermione is done."

"Well, those two found us, didn't they? I don't know how they found us but they did. So what if someone else comes looking for us and they come here. They'll see the place all trashed and they'll know that we were here. If we clean up, they don't know. It'll buy us some time."

Ron sighed but nodded and got to work on cleaning up the warm fluid that was all over the floor. He noted, with disgust, that there were swirls of blood within the coffee.

Harry repaired the broken light fixtures and cleaned the waitresses clothes so that there was no blood on her when she woke up. Once Hermione was done with her spellwork, the trio turned off the lights and disappeared.

* * *

"Hermione! Ron! Time for breakfast!" Harry called to his friends. He placed two plates of eggs onto the table and then sat down by himself. When no one came, he got worried.

"Ron? Hermione?" He called up the stairs.

He sprinted up the stairs and began to frantically search for his friends. Then he spotted them, unharmed, simply staring at a door.

"You guys scared me!" Harry said. "I made breakfast are you guys hungry?"

"Take a look at this," Hermione instructed him quietly.

He looked at the door and scrunched his eyebrows.

 **Regulus Arcturus Black**

"Yeah that was Sirius' brother," Harry told them. "Sirius told me that he was a death eater though. He died a while ago I guess."

"Look at the initials mate," Ron said.

That was when it clicked for Harry. Regulus Arcturus Black. RAB.

"The locket," Harry breathed. "Do you think he hid the real one here?"

"Let's search the room," Hermione suggested, casting a quick alohomora on the doorknob.

The trio immediately raided the room, searching every nook and cranny for the Slytherin locket. Harry took his time, examining the posters on the wall rather than tearing through things like Ron was. News articles were pinned up above his bed, all of them showcased Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Looks like he did a lot of research before joining," Hermione said, coming to a standstill by Harry's side.

"He was a seeker too," Harry said, looking down at the picture by Regulus' bedside table. It showed the Slytherin quidditch team. All of them stood expressionless as the photo was taken. Regulus was kneeling in the middle of the team lineup signifying his position as a seeker.

Hermione shook her head at him and muttered something along the lines of, "Of course that's what you notice."

"I don't think it's in here guys," Ron said from his side of the room.

"Where else could he hide it?" Harry asked. "Could it be somewhere else in the house?"

Hermione squeaked and her hand flew up to her mouth.

"What is it, Hermione? Don't tell me you see another giant spider!"

"When we were here for the summer. There was a locket in the drawing room that no one could open," She whispered, her eyes meeting Harry's. "We assumed that it was cursed and we threw it away."

Ron pounded his fist on the wall while Harry groaned.

"But Harry," Hermione started again. "What about Kreacher? He stole back so much of the stuff we threw out maybe he has it?"

"Yeah, but Hermione I really doubt he'll help us very much," Harry said.

Kreacher had been furious when they entered the house for the first time since it was abandoned. He spent an entire hour sitting in the kitchen and sobbing about how the mudbloods were tarnishing his lovely house.

Hermione pursed her lips and sighed.

"You're right," She said.

Ron took a break from punching the wall and turned towards his friends.

"Wait. When Sirius died," He ignored Harry's wince. "Didn't he leave the house and Kreacher to you, Harry?"

"Yeah I guess so," Harry replied.

"Well then maybe you're still his master! Maybe you can order him to tell us where the locket is!"

Harry thought about it for a moment and then grinned at his best friend.

"Good idea Ron!"

The trio rushed out of the room and through the halls. The portrait of Walburga Black screeched at them as they passed her but they didn't even stop to close her curtains.

They found the old house elf carrying a feather duster and aimlessly tapping the windows.

"Kreacher!" Harry bellowed.

The old house elf slowly turned to look at him.

"Blood traitors talk to Kreacher? What did Kreacher do to deserve this torture?"

"Kreacher, we need your help," Harry said, kneeling down next to the elf.

"Kreacher will not help mudbloods-"

"Kreacher I forbid you from saying that word!"

Kreacher began to hit his head against the stove before Harry reached out and pulled him away.

"Kreacher what have I told you about punishing yourself?" Harry yelled, even though he slightly enjoyed seeing the elf in pain.

"Master has told Kreacher not to hurt himself. Why must Kreacher live like this?"

Harry sighed again but loosened his hold on the house elf. Hermione lowered herself down to Kreacher's level and tilted his head towards her.

"Kreacher we have a very important task that we need help with do you understand?" Hermione asked gently.

"Yes mu-, Yes miss," Kreacher mumbled.

Harry chose to ignore the insults that spewed out of Kreacher's mouth after he didn't call Hermione a mudblood.

"We need to find a locket that was in this house. It was gold and had an 'S' on it. Do you remember the locket?"

"Master Regulus' locket?" Kreacher breathed, looking at the trio in fear. "No one will find Master Regulus' locket! I will not let you have Master Regulus' locket!"

The elf tried to scurry away but Ron pulled out his wand and the elf stopped in his tracks.

"Kreacher I order you to tell me where the locket is!" Harry yelled.

Fat, ugly tears began to roll down Kreacher's wrinkled face as he fell to his knees.

"Kreacher will not betray Master Regulus! Master Regulus told Kreacher not to tell anyone where the locket is! Kreacher will not fail Master Regulus again!"

Harry raised his wand and was about to fire a curse before Hermione stepped in front of Kreacher.

"Stop Harry! Can't you see that he's upset?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows scrunching together in pity for the old house elf.

"I ordered him-"

"I don't care what you ordered him to do! I want you to ask him nicely!"

Harry sighed and ran a face over his hand while Ron looked like he was about to join Kreacher the next time he decided to bang his head on something.

Finally, Harry bent down and, after glaring at Hermione, spoke softly to Kreacher.

"I'm sorry for yelling Kreacher," Harry muttered. "But we really need to find this locket. We know that it was here last summer and we also know that we threw it out. But you kept a lot of the things we threw out, didn't you?"

A timid nod.

"Good! Ok so did you happen to save an old, gold locket?"

Kreacher started to shake his head but, as if something possed him, his head began to nod and tears began to flow once again. Harry looked at his friends with an expression that displayed his excitement and his confusion.

"Kreacher, listen to me. We need to destroy the locket, ok? We-"

"Master wants to destroy the locket?" Kreacher said in disbelief.

"Erm," Harry started, looking at his friends who nodded encouragingly. "Yeah. Yeah, we want to destroy it. If that's ok with you."

"Kreacher has been trying to destroy it for years," Kreacher said, looking up at the teens with hope in his eyes.

"We want to help you, Kreacher," Hermione whispered softly, reaching out to take one of Kreacher's small hands in her own. "We want to help."

 **A/N-** Hi guys! How's your weekend going so far? Mine is going really well actually. I went shopping with my friend and then watched a lot of Glee! I'm wayyyyy behind in my Camp Nano stuff but, I'm excited about what I'm writing so even if I don't finish on the deadline, I'll be happy. I'll probably start posting that story in August so be on the lookout!

Alright, I'm going to go now but have a great day!

-Marauderette24


	5. Chapter 5- Sophie

"I have something to give you mom," Sophie said.

Lily was sitting on the couch, applying a coat od dittany to her wounds. Dudley sat next to her bandaging up the ones that she already covered.

"It's from Harry."

"What?" Lily exclaimed, shooting up and immediately grimacing from the pain that shot up her arm.

"Soph-"

"No Dudley look!" Sophie said, running forward and shoving a letter into his hands. "It's his handwriting!"

Dudley looked at his sister suspiciously before opening the piece of parchment. Lily and Sophie watched on to gauge his reaction. After a few moments, he nodded.

"It's from him," He said quietly.

"Where did you get these?" Lily asked, taking the letter that Sophie offered her and then looking at her daughter suspiciously. "Do you know where he went?"

"No," Sophie answered honestly. "I have no idea where he went. The letters just appeared on my desk. In my letter, Harry said that Hermione put a charm on them or something."

Dudley gave her a side eye and Sophie signaled to him that they could talk later.

"He left a bunch so do you think that maybe you'll be able to pass them out to people?"

Lily nodded silently, her eyes still glued to the parchment.

"Ok," Sophie said. "Dudley and I are going to go upstairs alright?"

Lily nodded once again, waving her children goodbye. Sophie and Dudley ran up the stairs and nearly sprinted into Sophie's room but one thing stopped them. As they passed by Harry's room, both siblings froze in place. They didn't enter nor did they say a word to each other. And just as suddenly as they had stopped, they both took off again and didn't stop until they were in Sophie's room.

"Do you know where he is?" Dudley whispered, looking around as though their surrogate parents were going to crash in through the door any second.

"No!" Sophie insisted, pulling Dudley over to a chair next to her bed.

"Then why were you acting so weird when mom asked you?"

"Because he told me that he was going to leave," Sophie said, squirming under Dudley's gaze. "I overheard him talking and saying that he wasn't going back to Hogwarts. I don't think they planned on leaving so soon though-"

"Sophie, you knew that he was leaving?" Dudley asked, standing up and towering over his sister. "Soph you know how much danger he's in! He could be dead for all we know-"

"Stop Dudley!" Sophie screamed, tears gathering in her eyes as she stood up and glared at her brother. "Trust me I know what he's going after or do you not remember how I grew up?"

Dudley glanced down and licked his lips.

"Why didn't you tell anyone then?" He whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"He made me promise," Sophie said, walking closer to Dudley and wiping her eyes. "You know that I can't break a promise."

"I'm worried about him," Dudley admitted, sitting back into his chair and patting his lap. Sophie obediently skipped over and seated herself on her brother.

"So am I. But he's strong. And he's got Ron and Hermione with him."

"He's not invincible though," Dudley muttered.

They didn't say anything after that. Instead, they chose to look out the window and cherish the fact that they still had each other.

* * *

No one in the Potter household got any sleep that night. Lily sat in the entry hall, her arm wrapped in a sling and her hair matted from the small time that she had spent in the battle. Sophie ad Dudley cuddled next to each other near the fireplace, occasionally dozing off but quickly awakening when the fact that their father still wasn't home.

"Do you think he's ok?" Sophie whispered to Dudley as the clock struck 12. It had been over 4 hours since they had left the battle and no one had sent them any news.

"Uncle James? Yeah, he's probably just helping the Order patch things up," Dudley replied uncertainly, pulling his sister closer to him.

"What about everyone else?"

"They're probably ok too. Most of them were Order members remember Sophie? And the Order always wins."

Sophie didn't say a word. Instead, she stared into the fireplace as if she were willing James to appear. As Dudley struggled to find words to comfort Sophie, Lily walked into the room.

"You guys should head to bed," She said quietly. "It doesn't look like James is coming home anytime soon."

"But Aunt Lily-"

"No buts Dudley. I want both of you in bed alright? I'm sure James is just cleaning up-"

As Lily began ushering the children up to the stairs, a loud bang was heard from the entry room. Not wasting any time, Sophie bolted under her mother's arms and didn't stop until she reached the foyer. She waited with baited breath as the soot cleared, allowing her to see the outline of a single figure.

"Ginny?!"

 **A/N- I'm sooooooo sorry for how short this chapter is. But I went on vacation and school is starting back up so I've just been super busy. But, I've also been working on some new stories for you guys! I've got a Miraculous Ladybug fic out right now called Daylight: A Marichat Fanfiction if you guys want to read that. And, I'm also working on something really exciting. It's probably my most ambitious and intensely thought out piece. I'm not going to give much away since I don't know when it'll be published but, it's a Dark!Harry and Dark!Hermione story. I'm super excited about it and I hope you guys are too! I'm also rewriting my old story, WBCHB, so that'll be updating again. I hope you guys don't mind that I'm working on so much, I just can't seem to stay focused on one thing at a time!**

 **Anyway, see you guys later!**

 **-Marauderette24**


	6. Chapter 6- Ginny and Remus

Ginny hobbled out of the fireplace and wrapped her arm around Sophie's shoulders to support herself. Her hair was knotted and covered in soot as was her face. Ginny sniffled a bit and then doubled over, coughing loudly. Sophie gently guided her into a chair just as Lily and Dudley burst into the room.

"Ginny!" Lily gasped, running over to her son's girlfriend. "What happened? Where is everyone? Are you alright?"

"Fine, Mrs. Potter," Ginny said. She began to cough loudly and quickly covered her mouth. Once the coughing fit subsided, she pulled her fist away, letting out a little gasp when she saw the blotch of blood on her palm. Lily's eyes widened as she sprinted out of the room to grab the medical bag.

"Ginny! You're coughing up blood!" Dudley exclaimed, grabbing a tissue from the coffee table and handing it to her.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ginny said, glaring at Dudley. Her eyes softened as her eyes fell on Sophie who was staring at her with worried eyes.

"Are you ok, Ginny?" Sophie asked quietly as Lily hurried back into the room.

"Yeah, Ginny. I need some details about your injuries so that I can treat you properly. Do you mind telling me what happened?" Lily asked as wrung out a rag and began washing Ginny's face off.

"Death Eaters captured the Order members and brought them inside the house. Tied us up and took us into the basement one by one for interrogation. They wanted to know where Harry went and what he was doing. They only used crucio on me. Maybe a few cutting curses here and there. They left after they went through everyone. Everyone else is trying to salvage our things from the burrow but we all know that we can't go back there. They should be coming back here in a little bit."

Lily regarded the young woman in front of her and gave her a tight smile.

"Thank you, Ginny. I think you're in pretty good shape considering the fact that you were just in a full-scale battle with death eaters. Sophie and Dudley can show you up to your room so that you can get some rest, all right?"

Ginny nodded as she gingerly stood up.

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter."

Dudley allowed Ginny to lean on him as the trio walked up the stairs and down the long hallway. Dudley left the room once he was sure that his strength wouldn't be needed so that Ginny could have some privacy. Sophie, however, settled down near the foot of the bed and silently watched over Ginny. The redheaded girl slowly removed her dirty shirt and stepped out of her now ripped skinny jeans. Her face was looking much cleaner now but the rest of her body was still dirty and a thin coat of dried blood covered her left arm.

"I hate battle clothes," Ginny said. "They always feel so dirty, you know? I always burn mine. I can never wear them without picturing the blood."

"I know what you mean," Sophie replied quietly.

The two fell into silence, lost in memories. The only sound in the room was a faint ticking from the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table. Finally, Ginny cleared her throat and wiped her eye.

"Sophie?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"He's gone, isn't he? Harry? They kept asking where he was. He wasn't planning on leaving so soon. He was supposed to wait. He was supposed to say goodbye," Ginny whispered, fingering her lacy bra. She looked over to where Sophie was sitting. "He told me that he would leave in the middle of the night. He said Hermione had a plan. But he left me. And what if the whole plan is ruined now and he's sitting somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no food and no shelter and Ron's probably crying-"

Sophie wordlessly handed Ginny the envelope that Harry had reserved for her.

"What-"

"Just open it, ok? I'm going to go downstairs to help mom get ready for the rest of the Order."

Sophie slipped out of the room leaving Ginny to stare at the small envelope in her hand. She licked her lips as she slid her fingernail under the seal and pulled the parchment out.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I'm just going to start off by saying that I love you. I love you so much, Ginny. And that's why I'm doing this. I'm going to kill Voldemort so that you and Sophie and mom and dad and Dudley and everyone else can live in peace. I promise to try my best to be careful but you know how I am, trouble always seems to find me. I won't let anything stop me this time Ginny. He's been ruining lives for too many years and I can't let that continue, even if that means putting my life in danger._

 _There's so much that I want to tell you Ginny but I know that I've only got a little bit of time before someone walks in on me writing this. So, I'm going to keep it simple._

 _Earlier this summer, you promised me that you would look out for Sophie. If that promise holds true, I will be the happiest person in the world._

 _Try to stay safe at Hogwarts. I don't know what's going to happen since Dumbledore isn't headmaster anymore so try to keep your head down, ok? I don't know what I would do if I found out that you had been hurt because of your relation to me or the Order._

 _And lastly, there's a charm on the envelope to this letter. All you have to do is say finite incantatum and you'll be gifted with one last present from me. Don't freak out when you see it, I promise it's not an engagement ring. Think of it as a promise ring. It's my promise to always love you, no matter what happens in this crazy world. I understand if you don't want to wear it but, it has a couple protection charms that might come in handy should you ever find yourself in danger. Just remember Ginny, no matter where I am or what we might be facing, I'll always love you._

 _Love,_

 _Harry Potter_

Ginny folded the letter back up with shaking hands and then grabbed the envelope. She whispered the spell that Harry had included and then let out a small gasp when a ring fell into her palm. The thin, silver band housed two small diamonds. One black and one white. They seemed to circle around each other, both of them shining in the light.  
Ginny slipped the ring onto her finger. It shrunk to fit her dainty finger perfectly and Ginny had to remind herself to breathe as it seemed to glow for a moment.

"I love you too Harry," She whispered.

* * *

Ginny was still up in her room when the rest of the Order came tumbling through the fireplace.

Fred entered first, his arm firmly holding up George whose head was completely coated in blood. Molly came through next holding a beaten down cardboard box. Arther and Charlie came through moments apart, also holding boxes of what the Potters assumed were boxes of belongings. Remus and Tonks came in a moment later with Sirius hot on their tale and lastly, Bill and Fleur entered, still dressed in their wedding gear.

"I'm so sorry-" Lily started, walking towards Fleur.

"Don't," Fleur said quietly. "We knew the risks. We knew that we could've waited. But we wanted to have the wedding anyway. We love each other and not even death eaters can take that from us."

Lily leaned over and gave the younger girl a hug.

"Congratulations Mrs. Weasley," She whispered in Fleur's ear.

Once everyone had settled down and fallen asleep, Lily pulled James aside. One look at his wife told James all he needed to know.

"He'll be ok Lily," James whispered, pulling her into his arms.

"How do you know that?" She asked harshly, spinning around to face him. "How can you be so confident? He's our son, James! And he's just run off to try and track down a man who is trying to kill him."

"He's strong, Lily-"

"Don't you think I know that? I know he's brave, and he's strong, and he's got better instincts than half the Order but, he's my son. And I just got him back. And now he's off who knows where with only his two school-age friends to help him defeat the evilest wizard in history."

"Hermione's smart for her age and I don't think I've met a boy who's more loyal than Ron," James hesitated before opening his mouth to continue. "Can I say something really bluntly?"

Lily nodded slowly.

"This is Harry's fight. He knows it. We know it. The Order knows it. We'll all be there to take out those death eaters but Harry has to be the one to kill him. Albus told him something and know it's time that we trust him and we trust our son. Harry's not an idiot, sure he can be a bit oblivious sometimes but he wouldn't run off if it wasn't important."

"How can you be so calm about this," Lily whispered.

"I'm not. I'm having a panic attack on the inside. Might need to go run some laps with Pads tomorrow."

Lily giggled and buried her face in James' shoulder.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Everything is going to be ok, Lily Flower."

* * *

Remus held his breath as the door to his bedroom creaked open. Lily and James had just padded up to bed and now, he finally had his chance to sneak out. He snuck out of the house with his wand held firmly in front of him, ready to fend off any intruders. Once he was completely out of range of Potter Manor's wards, he apparated away.

As soon as his feet touched the ground in front of a small house, he took off running. He slipped through the wards with no problem, a cold wave passing through him as he walked over the property line.

The door was unlocked and it slid open as soon as he turned the knob.

"Dora?" He called quietly. The room was dark as he slid off his shoes and started to take silent steps toward the kitchen. "Dora? It's me."

"Remus," Tonks breathed as she walked out from behind the old couch. "Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah everyone's fine. The Weasley's are probably going to move into HQ since the wards on their place weren't strong enough."

"Good."

"Good."

"You know," Remus said, tracing one of the patterns from the couch with his finger. "I've got a little bit of time before I have to get back to the Potter's..."

Remus trailed off and looked up at Tonks, his eyes shining.

"I was hoping you would say that," She said, promptly guiding Remus to the couch and straddling him. She pressed careful kisses against his neck as she undid the buttons on his robe.

"Did you tell Sirius and the Potters about us yet?" She whispered.

"No," Remus admitted, groaning slightly as Tonks pressed her lips against a particularly sensitive part of his neck. "What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, by the way, I'm dating Sirius' cousin in secret because we don't want the death eaters to find out?' That sounds awful."

"Hmm," Tonks hummed as tugging at Remus' sleeves. He promptly pulled off the robe. "I think we're well past the dating stage don't you?"

"Well, that sounds even better. How am I supposed to tell Sirius that I eloped with his cousin?"

"It's not eloping. We just got legally married and are waiting to have the reception until after the war."

"I still can't believe that we did that."

"I still can't believe that you agreed to it."

"Anything for you dear," Remus mumbled pulled Tonks' hips closer to his. "Now, why don't we take this up to the bedroom?"

 **A/N- Long time no see darlings! But just because I haven't posted doesn't mean that I haven't been working. I'm in the middle of a really fun Glee fanfiction that I'm going to publish soon and I'm still working on my new dark story. I'll be looking for beta readers for the latter so if you're interested, pm me and I can send you more details.**

 **As always, I want to say that my wattpad account is still uploading regularly and I would love for you to check it out! Username: ThatMatchie.**

 **Love you all!**

 **-Marauderette24**


	7. Chapter 7- Harry and Remus

"Dammit," Hermione muttered, slamming the newest edition of the Daily Prophet onto the dining room table.

"What now, Hermione?" Ron asked exasperatedly, placing his plate on the counter and walking over to her. Her frizzy hair was set in a braid down her back and Harry's invisibility cloak was draped over the back of her chair. Still, Ron knew exactly where to put his hand as he leaned against the wooden seat.

"Snape's just been appointed as headmaster!" Hermione exclaimed angrily, thrusting the paper into Ron's hands.

"Of Hogwarts?" Rona asked, immediately scanning the front page which featured a picture of Snape wearing his signature scowl.

"No, Ronald. Of Pigfarts up on Mars," She replied sarcastically. "Where's Harry? He needs to see this."

"See what?" Harry asked, coming into the kitchen holding a broom. Kreacher trailed behind him happily supporting a dustpan full of trash. After the trio and Kreacher bonded over their mutual desire to destroy Regulus' Horcrux, Kreacher became much more helpful. He frequently assisted Harry in cleaning the house and cooked all of their meals.

"Don't tell me you found a Horcrux while you were out."

"No, but I did get my hands on today's issue of the prophet. You might want to take a look," Hermione replied, plucking the paper out of Rin's hands and passing it over to Harry. His eyes scanned the page just like Ron's had and his hands immediately balled into fists. The paper was shoved back into Hermione's hands before Harry could crumple it.

"But McGonagall was supposed to replace Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed.

"This is just more proof that the Ministry is corrupted, Harry. No one on the Light side would stand for Snape being appointed as opposed to McGonagall!"

"But isn't Puis Thicknesse minister now?" Ron asked, his eyebrows scrunched together. "Because my Dad has talked about him before and said that he was a decent guy."

"Well, he's sided with the Death Eaters now-"

"What if he's under the Imperius curse?" Ron asked, backing away with his hands up when Hermione whirled around and stared at him with frustrated eyes.

"Does it really matter, Ron? Either way, he's the person in charge and he's working for Voldemort!"

"Just trying to give the dude the benefit of the doubt," Ron muttered. Hermione's eyes softened as she looked at him.

"And that's great Ron. But we're in the middle of a war. We can't give people the benefit of the doubt ok? If we do, we will die."

Harry looked between his two friends and decided to interrupt before things got heated.

"Ok, well, what else does the article say, Hermione?" Harry asked, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder. "If Snape is headmaster, who's teaching Defense?"

"He's fired a pair of siblings to teach muggle studies and defense against the dark arts. Both of them are known Death Eaters who escaped an Azkaban sentence after the first war," Hermione said.

"Names?" Harry asked.

"Alecto and Amycus Carrow. Why?"

"They were both on the tower the night that Professor Dumbledore died," Harry said. "Alone, neither of them would be much trouble. But they do have a violent streak and are very good at following orders."

"So what are we going to do, Harry? We can't break into Hogwarts-"

"The Order can handle Hogwarts for now."

"But what about Ginny?" Ron protested. "She's going back there this year what if-"

"Ron, if we find the Horcruxes, we can end this before the Carrows or Snape even have a chance to look at Ginny."

"We don't even know where the damn locket is!"

Harry opened his mouth to respond to his friend when Kreacher tentatively raised his hand.

"Master, Kreacher thinks he knows where the locket went."

Harry immediately kneeled down and looked at Kreacher's large glass eyes intently.

"Where Kreacher? Who has it?"

"Mundungus Fletcher, sir. Stinky rotten thief stole Master Regulus' locket."

Harry nodded his head and then turned to look at his friends. They all shrugged and nodded, agreeing with each other without even needing to speak.

"Kreacher," Harry said, turning his attention back to the waiting elf. "Go find Dung. And bring him to me."

Remus woke up to the smell of fresh flowers and a warm feeling underneath his fingers. Slowly, he opened his eyes and tried to remember where he was. The room was dark but his werewolf genes enhanced his eyes and allowed him to see the woman sleeping next to him. In her sleep, Tonks' looks faded back into their natural state. Her hair became a mousy brown and reached just past her ears. Remus loved it. He sighed contently, brushing her hair back behind her ear as he pressed soft kisses to her neck and upper back. After a few minutes, she finally stirred.

"Morning," She said, turning over so that she could face him. Her face was lit up with a goofy smile and her eyes shifted between brown and grey for a moment before settling into a light hazel.

"Good morning," Remus replied planting a light kiss on her lips. Her hand found it's way up to his face and traced over his many scars.

"Didn't you have to get back to the Potter's?" Tonks asked.

"And leave my beautiful wife to wake up to an empty bed?" Remus quirked an eyebrow and propped himself up on his elbow. "Never."

Tonks grin was enough to convince Remus that he made the right choice.

"I'll make you some toast downstairs?" Remus said, swinging his feet over onto the ground and pulling his shirt back on.

"Sure," Tonks replied, snuggling her face into the pillow. "But are you sure it's ok for you to be away from headquarters this long?"

"I'll head in when you head in," Remus said, smiling slightly as Tonks pulled the blanket up to make sure her unclothes body was covered.

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Tonks asked with a smirk, sitting up and letting the blanket drop slightly noticing how Remus' breath hitched slightly. "The two of us walking in, together, after you go missing for a night?"

"They'll be too focused on other things," Remus choked out, trying to pull his eyes away from where Tonks was teasing him by dropping the blanket a little more and rolling her shoulders slowly.

"But you'll be perfectly focused on those things too, right?" Tonks shot him a look as one of her legs slowly emerged from the blanket and rubbed the mattress.

"Of course."

"Really?" Tonks asked, ruffling her hair slightly and adjusting her position on the mattress. "Well in that case, maybe we could do a little activity to relax before we go into work."

"Your parents are home, Dora," Remus groaned, already walking over to the short woman.

"They were home yesterday and that didn't stop us," She whispered, grabbing his face and pressing their lips together.

"I didn't know that," Remus mumbled, climbing back into bed, this time positioning himself on top of Tonks. His strong limbs held him above her with ease and her legs wrapped around his waist comfortably.

"Come on babe," Tonks insisted, shooting her husband another one of her disarming smiles. "Just cast a silencing charm and let's have some fun."

Remus pressed his lips together and tried to look uncertain but his amusement was apparent. He quickly grabbed his wand from the bedside table and cast a quick silencing and locking charm on the door. As soon as the charms were cast, Tonks pulled Remus' face back to her and smiled brightly before smashing her lips onto his.

"I love you Nymphadora," Remus mumbled in between kisses.

"I love you too Remus.," Tonks said, smiling into his lips.

They didn't talk for a while after that.

Remus' prediction came true later that day when he and Tonks finally arrived at Potter Manor. Lily and James were too busy mapping out a plan for Hogwarts to notice their arrival and Sirius was upstairs entertaining the kids. Remus thought he saw Kingsley give him a surprised look but when he looked back at the man his eyes were set on the newspaper in front of him and he didn't appear to have seen the couple enter. They made their way over to the table where the Weasley's and Potter's were discussing the newest appointments to the Hogwarts faculty.

"Oh hello Remus, Tonks," James said, chewing on his bottom lip as he kept his eyes trained on the paper in front of him.

"Did you two get here at the same time?" Lily asked, looking at the couple critically.

"Yeah, we ran into each other near the gate," Remus lied, carefully avoiding the curious woman's gaze.

"Oh," Lily said, her face showing confusion for a second before she shook her head and pointed to a few open chairs. "Well, pull up a chair, we're trying to figure out different ways for the kids to deal with the new staff."

"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.

"Well we're trying to do some research on the Carrows, think about who they are and why Voldemort chose them to work at Hogwarts. Then, we're trying to think of ways to keep innocent kids safe and to try and prevent kids from siding with the Dark. I'm sure that the Carrows are going to try to recruit so we want to put a stop to that."

Tonks nodded and immediately jumped into a conversation with Molly Weasley. Remus met her eyes briefly and they twinkled mischievously before turning back to the parchment in front of her. Remus shook his head with a smile, trying not to think about the war that was raging on right outside their door.

 **A/N- Hi guys! Long time no see but I'm proud to say that I've gotten my shit together so hopefully I'll be able to be more active on here. As always, if you're ever waiting for a new chapter of the Mysteries Series, feel free to check out my other stories both on here and on Wattpad! On this site I have several Harry Potter stories along with a few stories based on other fandoms. Thank you all for the support and Happy New Year!**

 **-Marauderette24**


	8. Chapter 8- Harry, Sirius, and Sophie

The day that Kreacher returned to Grimmauld Place started like any other. Hermione was busy in the library, sorting through books and trying to see if the Black's had any information regarding Voldemort and his horcruxes. Ron was playing with his deluminator while pretending that he was cleaning up the front room of the house and Harry was in the basement of the house. The basement had been unofficially crowned the training room. Harry had set up some muggle boxing dummies that they could train with and in the second room, there was a small potions lab that Hermione frequently liked to prepare battle potions in.

However, the tranquility and normality of the day were crushed when Harry heard a thud hit in the kitchen accompanied by vague yelling. He raced up the stairs, pulling his wand out as he got closer to the disturbance. Harry burst into the kitchen, the disarming spell already on his tongue. However, when he saw Mundungus Fletcher lying on the floor with Kreacher standing on top of his back, he faltered.

Mundungus took this opportunity to suddenly jump up, throwing an unsuspecting Kreacher off his back, and try to run for the door. Luckily, Ron and Hermione ran into the room at that exact moment and Ron immediately pounced onto the thief. He swiftly took Mundungus to the ground, pulling his arms tightly behind his back to restrain him.

"What in the bleeding hell-" Mundungus started, his voice faltering as Harry bent down, glaring at him and harshly digging the tip of his wand into Mundungus' forehead.

"Got him, Ron?" Harry asked not wanting the thief to get away.

"Yup," Ron said, pressing his weight down onto the older man.

Harry glanced towards the stove where Kreacher was shaking his head while Hermione fussed over him.

"You and Kreacher ok, 'Mione?" Harry asked, his eyes returning to the man on the kitchen floor.

"We're good here, Harry. Do you need anything?" Hermione answered as she and Kreacher walked towards the other boys.

"I think good ole Dung here has all the information I need," Harry said, cocking an eyebrow at the man. "What do you think Dung? Do we need Hermione to get the truth potions or will you tell me what I need to know?"

"I'll tell you whatever you want!" Dung said, his eyes darting around hysterically. "For God's sake, what the hell do you want to know? I get taken from my business and kidnapped by a house elf and I don't even know why!"

Hermione snorted. "By business, I think you mean a street corner in Knockturn Alley."

"All the same," Dung grumbled. "Now what the bleeding hell do you lot want?"

"Watch your mouth, Dung," Ron said, giving the older man a harsh shove.

"This summer, while you were at this house, you stole lots of things. Is that correct?" Harry asked.

"Is that what all this is about? Look you can have your fancy ass cups back-"

"I don't care about fucking cups," Harry said, his voice dangerously soft. "Did you take a golden locket from this house this summer? A locket that was unable to be opened and had a large 'S' printed on it?"

"Yes," Dung admitted, swallowing loudly.

"Where is it?" Hermione asked, joining Harry in sitting on the floor.

"I don't know," Dung answered, closing his eyes tightly when Ron pressed his head into the floor. "I sold it, please, I sold it. I don't know where it is."

"Dammit," Harry muttered, harshly removing his wand from Dung's forehead and standing up. He threw his hands up and kicked a dining room chair, shaking his head when Dung flinched.

"Who did you sell it to?" Hermione asked, scooching closer Dung and scrunching her nose when she caught a whiff of the burnt out marijuana odor that the man seemed to carry with him. Ron laughed at her offended face.

Hermione glared at Ron and refocused herself on the task at hand.

"Who did you sell it to?" Hermione repeated.

"An older lady, very short and round, wore a giant pink bow on top of her head."

Hermione looked at Ron in horror. He stared back with a confused expression.

"Did she look a bit like a frog?" Hermione asked, watching as understanding dawned on Ron's face.

"Now that you mention it a bit-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a bright red light hit him in the head causing him to go limp under Ron's hold. A startled Ron and Hermione looked up to find Harry putting his wand away.

"We got what we needed. Now, we can't let him remember talking to us or what we're searching for. Obliviate him."

* * *

"Megan?" Sirius called, creaking open the door to their home.

"In the living room, Sirius," Meg called, her voice hoarse and low.

Sirius rushed into the room, grimacing when he saw his girlfriend cleaning out a long cut on her leg. Her face was screwed up in concentration as she gently wiped away the dried blood and grime from the cut.

"Hey babe," He said, setting his bag on the coffee table and taking the rag from Meg. He searched through his bag, smiling when he found the new bottle of dittany that he had bought from the apothecary. He gently dipped the rag into the salve and started to rub it on the edges of the cut, murmuring healing spells as he went.

"Thanks, Sirius," Meg whispered as her cut began to stitch itself back together.

"No problem. How'd that happen?" He asked, gesturing to the now healed gash.

"Your cousin's lovely husband," Meg said distastefully. "Don't worry though, I got in quite a few of my own hexes before he got me."

"That's my girl," Sirius inspecting the healed skin to make sure that his spells had worked. "Ok, you're completely healed. You know the drill though, don't-"

"-do anything that could potentially reopen the cut and try to keep the skin relatively clean and out of direct sunlight," Meg interrupted, pulling her pant leg down and rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. "I've done this enough to know how to care for a minor cut."

Sirius sighed. "You shouldn't know. You shouldn't have been injured this many times."

"It's part of the job we do, Sirius," Meg said.

"It shouldn't be our job to fight!"

"Who else will?" Meg exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at Sirius. "If we don't, who will? Who else is going to stop him? We need all the manpower we can get, Sirius. You know that."

"You're right," Sirius said, dropping down next to Meg and wrapping an arm around her.

The pair sat in silence for a while, their fingers interlaced and Meg's head resting in the crook of Sirius' arm. Finally, after a few moments of relishing in each other's presence, Sirius broke the silence.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Remus lately?" He asked casually.

Meg pulled her head away and looked at him quizzically.

"No," She said. "Should I? Is something wrong?"

"He's just been...distant lately. He hasn't stayed late after Order meetings and doesn't spend much time with me and James on the weekends."

"Well school is in full swing, Sirius," Meg said, placing a small kiss by Sirius' temple. "He probably has papers to grade and wants to watch out for the kids. Unless...are you worried about his loyalty?"

"No!" Sirius exclaimed instantaneously. "No, Moony is 100% on our side. I just feel like he's hiding something."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He's just acting kind of like he did when we were younger and he was still trying to hide that he was a werewolf."

"I'll keep an eye out but really Sirius, what does that man have to hide?" Meg said, laughing as she stood up and offered her hand to Sirius. "Come on, we have to get some sleep since we're patrolling tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Good Sophie!" James called as he watched his daughter knock the dummy over with a roundhouse kick. "Let's take a lunch break, ok?"

Sophie nodded, taking off her workout gloves and wiping the sweat away from her forehead.

"What are the plans for today?" Sophie asked as she and James left the training room and started the trek to the kitchen.

"Your mom and I have an Order meeting tonight but that's about it. I think your mom is going shopping this afternoon and you and Dudley are going to help me prep for our company."

"Is everyone coming?"

"Everyone that's available. The only one who hasn't responded is Dung. Merlin knows he'll show up late, high as a kite." James glanced over at Sophie, a smirk on his face. "Don't tell Lily that I said that in front of you."

"My lips are sealed," Sophie said, smiling back at James as they entered the kitchen.

Dudley was sitting on a stool by the island while Lily prepared sandwiches on the counter. Dishes scrubbed themselves in the sink and ingredients for dinner were flying out of the cupboards and setting themselves on the counter near Lily. Sophie plopped down next to Dudley while James walked over to Lily and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Hey James," Lily sighed, handing him a sandwich and setting one down in front of Sophie and Dudley.

"What do you need help with, Lily Flower?" James asked, massaging her shoulders and smirking when the tension dropped.

She raised her eyebrow slightly and gave him a look to which he immediately nodded and walked out of the room. Lily didn'

t acknowledge his abrupt exit as she faced the kids and asked how their morning was.

"You were with me all morning, aunt Lily," Dudley said, eying the woman in front of him carefully. "Are you ok?"

"Of course!" Lily insisted, shaking her head as if to clear her mind. "Just a bot stressed from some Order business that's all. What about you Sophie? Good workout session?"

"It was good as always," Sophie said putting some of the sandwich in her mouth. "Thanks for lunch."

"No problem," Lily said, taking the now empty plate and placing it into the sink. "Look, the meeting tonight is going to be pretty packed and there's a lot of stuff that we have to talk about that I don't want you guys hearing. So I need you to stay upstairs tonight ok? In your rooms, no coming downstairs."

Dudley and Sophie looked at each other before looking back at their mother skeptically.

"What-"

"No," Lily said firmly. "Stay in your rooms ok? If we discuss anything important pertaining to you I will let you know in the morning ok? But for now, I need you to leave this to the adults."

Dudley nodded hesitantly urging Sophie to do the same. After Sophie pressed for more information and realized that Lily wasn't going to give any up, she agreed as well.

"Thank you," Lily breathed. "You two can have the rest of the day off, just tidy up the house a little, yeah? Dudley, make sure the formal dining room is clean and Sophie you've got the drawing room."

And with that, Lily turned and left the kitchen, the dishes still washing themselves and the ingredients for dinner sitting on the counter, forgotten.

 **A/N- Once again, no excuse for how late this chapter is. If you've decided to stick around even after you discovered my abnormal uploading schedule, thank you so so much. I'm sorry if I've let any of you down or driven you away from the story.**

 **However, I do want it to be known that during my absence, I have been having fun in the real world and trying to break out of my shell a bit!**

 **I love you all,**

 **Marauderette24**


	9. Chapter 9- Sophie

"Alright," James started, standing up from his place at the table and surveying the faces around him. "Let's start with the raid of the muggle town of Rye."

"It was a massacre," Tonks said, standing up and addressing her fellow Order members. "27 muggles dead, 35 injured, countless obliviated, not to mention the aurors and by standing witches and wizards who were injured or killed while trying to stop the death eaters."

"Do we have a motive?" James asked, scribbling down notes on a piece of parchment while swallowing down the disgust that was rising in him upon hearing about the attack.

"No. Kingsley and I have both examined the profiles of everyone who lived in the town and was involved in the attack and can't seem to find any specific targets."

"So," Lily piped up. "We're just considering this a completely random attack? I mean the You-Know-Who is ruthless but he's not stupid. He assigned almost 40 death eaters to this task. Would he really risk all of their lives just to take out irrelevant muggles?"

"No," Sirius said, standing and nodding at Lily. "Maybe if he had been there we could consider it an attack that was only made because he was angry. Besides, this attack was clearly planned. If you look at the muggle surveillance videos, you can see that the death eaters are acting precisely and with purpose."

"So what do you think the attack was then, Sirius?" James asked.

Sirius sighed, resting his hands on the table as he locked eyes with his brother in everything but blood.

"A distraction."

* * *

"Rumor has it that an entire muggle village was slaughtered a few nights ago," Hermione said, holding the latest edition of the Quibbler in her hand.

"How many dead?" Harry asked, pulling it from her hand and scanning the page. "And why is it a rumor?"

"It's the Quibbler reporting, Harry! Despite the Lovegood's being on our side, you must remember that they can be a bit...cooky."

"And no other sources have reported it? Even muggle outlets?" Ron asked, reading over Harry's shoulder.

"None. But, we can't put it past the ministry to be covering the attack up."

"Fair enough. We also can't put it past the Lovegood's to lie about an attack."

"They wouldn't lie about something this large and destructive," Harry argued. "Look, it doesn't concern us either way. As awful as it sounds, that attack isn't our business. The Order can handle that while we search for horcruxes."

"But-"

"No," Hermione interrupted before Ron could elaborate. "Harry's right, the sooner we find the horcruxes, the sooner we can stop the death eaters all together. Now, I also have some leads on where we can find Umbridge."

Ron nodded, his jaw clenched.

"Unfortunately, she rarely goes anywhere in public anymore. After Dumbledore died, Umbridge started laying low. She still works at the Ministry as the senior undersecretary but uses the ministry floos to get to and from work."

"So whose side is she on?" Harry asked.

"Her's," Ron answered. "She doesn't care who wins the war as long as she survives."

"I agree with Ron," Hermione said. "But no matter what side she's on, it makes things hard for us since the wards on her house are too powerful for us to break in undetected."

Harry looked contemplative as Hermione continued to talk about the wards surrounding Umbridge's house and how they could potentially reach the locket without attracting too much attention. Ron nodded along, sparing glances at Harry as Hermione spoke.

"Well?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows scrunching together. "Does anyone else have any ideas?"

"What if," Harry spoke hesitantly. "What if we didn't have to break into her house?"

"She doesn't go anywhere but her house and the ministry building," Ron said, confused.

Hermione's eyes widened comically as she processed what Harry was saying.

"Harry, no-"

"Harry, yes!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"Wait, Harry, you want to break into the ministry?" Ron asked. "Are you insane?"

"It's the only way, guys! Think about it. We can glamour ourselves as ministry employees and get into the building undetected. Then, as soon as the opportunity arises, we snatch the necklace from Umbridge and get the fuck out of there."

"Sounds simple when you say it like that but think about how much of a risk it is Harry. What if our glamours fade before we find the necklace? Or if a death eater notices that it's us?" Hermione said. "There's no way that we can pull it off."

"I mean, polyjuice could hide us well enough to sneak in," Ron said.

"No, absolutely not," Hermione continued.

"We could pick out specific targets and study their routine before we actually break-in. And come on Hermione, we can take a few death eaters. Retrieving the horcrux is our top priority and this is our best bet at getting it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If we do this, we become criminals."

"And if we don't, we live in hiding forever and leave everyone else to Voldemort's mercy," Ron said, nodding at Harry. "I'm in."

"I agree with Ron. If we don't take the chance, who will? We need to destroy the locket to defeat Voldemort and if that means breaking into the ministry then so be it," Harry said.

"I think this is a stupid idea," Hermione started, locking eyes with both of the boys that stood in front of her. "But, we do need to get that locket. So, I'm in."

* * *

Magic crackled in the air as Bellatrix walked carelessly through the streets that, despite many years going by, were still stained with blood. Her fingernails trailed along the brick fences lining the sidewalks and she inhaled deeply, sighing contently as she smelled the familiar scent of death that seemed to cover the town.

After checking behind her to ensure she wasn't being followed, Bella pulled out her wand and turned the corner into a large field. Gravestones were placed perfectly in line however, unlike most cemeteries, this one showed no sign of anyone coming to visit their deceased loved ones. There were no flowers left on the graves, no footprints in the squishy fall mud, not even a scratch on any of the headstones. However, Bella didn't seem concerned about the lack of human activity in the cemetery. She strode forward, the dry autumn leaves crunching under her thigh-high boots. She walked through the rows of headstones, her deep brown eyes scanning over the names until she finally found who she was looking for. A smirk popped up on her face as she gently caressed her dark mark, eyes fluttering closed as she relished in the surge of power that flowed through her veins as her master responded.

As the dark magic calmed, Bellatrix opened her eyes, breathing deeply as she realized that strong arms were holding her in place.

"Did you find what I needed, Bella?" Voldemort whispered into her ear.

"Yes, My Lord," Bella murmured, jutting her chin out towards the headstone.

"Good girl," He said, pulling away and causing Bellatrix to shiver in his absence.

Voldemort's wand scratched against the surface of the gravestone as he read over the inscription.

 **Seraphina Angelina Snow**

 **Daughter - Sister - Hero**

Shaking his head slightly, Voldemort smashed his fist into the ground causing the soil to split, giving Voldemort a full view of Sarah's casket.

"Stupid girl," He muttered, his voice tinged with regret. "In the ground instead of at the apex of the war."

He casually flicked his wand causing the casket to levitate out of the ground and follow him as he walked out of the graveyard.

"Come, Bella. I have what I need."

Meanwhile, in Potter Manor, Sophie and Dudley were sitting on the latter's bed when suddenly Sophie gasped.

"Soph?" Dudley asked, quickly scurrying to his sister's side.

"Get mom," Sophie said, gripping the sheets tightly and pushing Dudley's comforting hand away.

"Soph they're in the middle of-"

"Then move out of my way Dudley!" Sophie said, pushing herself off of the bed and stomping downstairs. She stumbled through the halls, resting her hand on the walls but moving quickly. Spots appeared in her vision and for a brief moment, she swayed on her feet as though she might fall over. But before she could hit the ground, Dudley's strong arms encapsulated her small body. he sprinted the remaining distance, bursting into the Order's meeting.

"Dudley-" Lily started, trying to get her nephew to leave the room.

"Something's wrong with Sophie!" He exclaimed, cutting her off. He moved forward so that Sophie was in full view of the whole Order.

James leaped from his seat helping Dudley move Sophie into a nearby chair. A glass of water was shoved close to her face and faces swarmed in front of her trying to help in any way they could. All Sophie could focus on was the burning sensation erupting internally.

"Where's Albus," She gasped out, pushing the caring hands away. "Where's Dumbledore?"

"Sophie drink the water and take a minute-" James tried.

"No. Where's Dumbledore?"

"I'm here, my girl," Dumbledore said from his position at the head of the table. He hadn't moved, instead, he sat observing the scene before him with curiosity.

"You cast a ward over my village, didn't you?" Sophie asked. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"He has her body," Sophie said, her voice quiet and pained. "Why didn't you tell me that her body was still there?"

"Whose?" Sirius asked, meeting eyes with James from across the table.

"My sister's," Sophie whispered. "When I asked you what had happened to my village you told me it was destroyed. You _lied_ to me, Dumbledore."

"I did it for your wellbeing-"

"Yeah well now Lord Voldemort has my sister's dead body and who knows what he's going to do with her," Sophie said, her eyes shining with tears and her hands shaking. "Her magic is angry that she's been moved from her resting place. Fix it."

And with that, Sophie was picked up my Dudley and carried out of the room.

 **A/N- It's a mess, it's late but here's the newest chapter. To anyone who has been waiting, thank you for being patient with me and sticking around. To new readers, hello! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I'll see y'all when I see y'all, might try to get another chapter out by next week since I'm on break but no promises :)**


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